Spring Bird Walk in Eaton Park, 2 May 2024

 

Guest blog by Helen Mitchell, Friends of Eaton Park

This year’s bird walk with Chris Durdin took place on the most perfect May day. The sun shone down from a blue sky. The park is stunning at this time of year. Many trees are just in leaf and are the freshest of greens. On the pitch and putt the hawthorn trees are clouds of fluffy white and Bluebell Wood is doing its thing, beautifully.

We kicked off with blackbird song in the rose garden before stopping for a while to enjoy a greenfinch. It had settled in to sing on the edge of one of the narrow-leaved ashes beside the Crazy Golf. Chris set up his scope and passers-by joined us to peer at the little bird. Later we heard a second greenfinch, on the North side of the park. This assured us that there are at least a two greenfinches in Eaton Park. Numbers have been down and we haven’t spotted them on previous walks so this was a real pleasure.

'Islands of meadow saxifrage in the meadow'

A walk down walnut tree avenue then to the rotunda and on to North Park Meadow. There we heard and watched blue tits and wrens and admired the islands of meadow saxifrage in the meadow. The tiny white flowers of this ancient meadow plant only come out at this time of year. We were also happy to see little forests of yellow rattle starting to grow.

The group on the edge of the meadow.

Walking down the north side of the park towards Bluebell Wood we admired the blossom on North Park Avenue’s Judas trees – their bubble gum pink branches unmissable. An eagle-eyed member of the group spotted a pair of blue tits nesting in the top of a street light post that had lost its cap (pictured for interest but sadly without birds!).

Street light that had a blue tit nesting in it.

Above the cricket pitch we spotted a buzzard and stopped for a while to watch it circling overhead. Several of us had seen these handsome birds of prey over gardens in West Norwich. Having suffered a steep decline in numbers, there are now four times as many buzzards in the UK as there were in the 1970s.

In Bluebell Wood, we listened to a chiffchaff. Named after their onomatopoeic song, these small warblers have becoming increasingly common. They usually migrate to southern Europe and North Africa but climate change has seen more of them overwinter in the UK. In Norwich they’ve been heard near the ring road and even close to Unthank Road shops.

There was a possible parakeet in Bluebell Wood which triggered a report of regular sightings of whole families living on Marston Marshes. These walks are always about sharing sightings, knowledge and enthusiasm as much as enjoying birds and nature.

Spotted medick as we entered the wood. 

In Bluebell Wood, the wildflowers were an absolute picture. Friends of Eaton Park have laid down woodchip on the pathway over a couple of years. In a spring of constant rain, the path has remained largely passable keeping walkers on track and away from the wildflowers. As well as bluebells there’s the dazzling white of great stitchwort, an increasing proliferation of the delicate umbellifer pignut and the glorious pink of red campion and herb robert.

In Bluebell Wood

Bluebell Wood.

With sunlight pouring through gaps in the ancient oaks and wildflowers all around us, bluebell wood was quite stunningly beautiful.

Heading back to the rose garden we were treated to the sight of a couple of sparrows hopping about in a silver birch, pecking at the leaves and twigs for insects and caterpillars. As always we ran over time, and people peeled off, most of them also after 7.30pm, to pick up bikes they’d parked earlier, or take the best exit home.

Common polypody on the old putting green hut.

For details of nature walks and other events and activities in Eaton Park visit friendsofeatonpark.co.uk/events-activities/ or follow the Friends on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/eatonparkfriend/